Asterisk
by ChocolateOranges
Summary: It's somebody's cry , reflected in those sparkling eyes . A wish carried on the wind , a request from the moon to live as fully as possible , day by day .
1. Rebirth

Author scribbles: Some ideas were stolen from Disturbia and The Grudge.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

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_--- Prologue ---_

_Three shinigamis who have betrayed their own allies were punished and were reborn in the human world. Their destinies were not meant to be intertwined with shinigamis anymore. They were meant to live peacefully, their memories of their past life completely erased to prevent a certain incident to happen again. _

_They were not to see each other anymore so they were born in three different parts of the world. One was born in North America, the next was born in Africa and the last one was born in Asia. The first two lived a happy childhood, their main goal limited to getting a good job. The third one though … wished that he could live a happier life._

_A man was walking back and forth outside a delivery room, waiting for his wife to give birth. He arrived at the hospital and was told that his wife was having problems with the child. After an hour or so, the doctor came out and congratulated him. He told the new father that he may see his wife and their newborn son. _

_He went in the delivery room and kissed his wife on the cheek and looked the baby, delighted that his wish for a boy came true. "What do you think we should name him?" he asked his wife._

"_Well …ah … Gin! His name would be Ichimaru Gin!" _

"_Gin?"_

"_Yeah, named after your silver locks." He grinned at his wife who smiled sweetly at him._

_They became a happy family and the couple enjoyed watching their son grow. This family was wealthy so the couple gave the boy anything he needed and wanted. Nothing evil could befall this family, right? Things have changed and the little boy wished for time to go back and give him the happiness he once had. Little did he know that since that day his world had been turned upside down. _

_--- _

_Chapter 1 _

_Reborn_

Kuchiki Rukia woke up to meet the sun's rays greeting her. She sat up, yawned and stretched her tiny body. "Oi, Rukia! Wake up, breakfast is ready!" The usual call of Kurosaki Ichigo in the morning reassured her that he's still alive and well. Six years have passed since Aizen's betrayal and everything was back to normal.

Ichigo's dad has been asked to become the fifth division captain and after the long speech of how he would be perfect for the division and for Hinamori which he could not bear any longer, he agreed to it. Kurosaki Ichigo was the third division captain just for the sake of having one. Kira Izuru does all the paperwork and everything that needs to be done with the help of the third and fourth seats. The ninth division captain was Madarame Ikkaku after being forced into it.

Though six years have passed, everyone looked like they did six years ago except for Orihime, Ishida and Chad. They were humans of course. Ichigo has to stay in the human world to finish his studies and to take care of his sisters. Rukia stayed in the living world with Ichigo because she was assigned to Karakura Town … again. Since she didn't have to go to school, she was forced to get an easy job by Ichigo. She was going to look after a four year old kid.

She left home after breakfast to start her "job". "Hmmm … the house is supposed to be … here! I found it!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Hey!" someone called for her

"Ichimaru-san!" she walked to front steps of the Ichimaru house. 'This name is oddly familiar …' she thought.

"Ah, you're just in time Rukia-chan. I have to leave for work. My son is inside watching TV; he shouldn't be that much trouble. For a four year old, he's pretty well-behaved. Well, I'll see you later." He smiled warmly at her but she felt a chill run up her spine. She went inside the house and went in the living room. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A little boy with silver hair turned his head to look at her. Big light green eyes were staring against bright purple ones. "You must be … Gin …" she said cautiously. The boy nodded and looked back at the TV. Gin was wearing blue jeans and a plain white long-sleeved shirt. He was too skinny that he looked like he hadn't eaten and he was pale.

"Have you eaten breakfast?" she asked and he nodded. "Well, all right then. I just have to make a call … be right back." Rukia went outside and called her captain and told him where Ichimaru Gin was.

"Well … that is a problem isn't it? I'll call for a captain's meeting and see what they think then I'll call you back, okay? Just don't tell him anything and if a hollow attacks, let Ichigo take care of it." They hung up their phones and Rukia sighed. She has to take care of the man … boy she hated the most for _a day_. Sighing once again, she went back inside to face her worst nightmare.

When she went back inside, she saw Gin curled up into a ball in the sofa, eyes still on the television. "Hey Gin, what's wrong?"

"I have a stomach ache."

"Mmm … what did you eat for breakfast?"

"I didn't eat yet … since yesterday afternoon."

"I thought you ate already."

"I was told to-" he covered his mouth and fear flashed in his eyes. "Please don't tell father, please don't." he looked at her with scared eyes and she felt sorry for him. She frowned because she didn't know what to do. This was the same person that made her feel like snakes were wrapping around her while he talked and yet … she didn't want him to starve.

She sighed once again and said, "Come on, put socks and your shoes on. I'll take you somewhere we can eat, okay?"

He smiled at her, ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Thank you nee-san!" He quickly put socks and his shoes on. Rukia smiled and reached for his hand but touched his wrist instead. He winced in pain.

She rolled up his sleeves and saw that his arms were covered in bruises. She looked up at him and he looked away. She frowned and asked, "What happened to you?"

"Father hits me with his belt every night … after he kills women in their early 20s to late 30s. He does this so that I won't tell anyone and so that he won't get into trouble."

"Kills women …?"

"After mom died, he brings a girl home. They do things and when she leaves, he forces her to stay and ends up killing her. I see him do that every night and after he kills them, he always tells me I shouldn't tell anyone and hitting me repeatedly but … he's been doing this for three months now and I couldn't take it anymore …"

"Where does he dump the bodies?"

"They're all in the basement and attic, wrapped in plastic bags. I don't think you should go there. Their mangled bodies, all their blood, their smell and haunting souls are all in there."

"I have to check if what you're saying is true. Do you want to come with me?" She held out her hand and he took it, willing to go. They ventured through the house and are finally standing in front of the basement door. Rukia opened it and was greeted by the bad smell emanating from it. She covered her mouth and nose and slowly climbed down the stairs, looking for the light switch. When she found it and turned it on, shock overcame her. The smell doesn't tell you half of what happened down there.

Body parts were all cut up and shoved into either clear or black garbage bags. Some faces were badly cut that you couldn't recognize them anymore. For a human, this would be pretty sick but for a shinigami, it's a nightmare. Their souls are not the regular ones. They were also cut up and they're all calling for her and slowly crawling to her.

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	2. A Day

Disclaimer: I clearly don't own Bleach. I also stole some rides from Canada's Wonderland.

Author Scribbles: Took me a while to update. I also changed the title because … I didn't really like the first one. Please ignore the OOC-ness.

_Two big glomps for _**ChibiKitty 14** _and_ **DeafLizgon**_ for taking the time to review and putting the story on story alert. I would like to give _**Kadoku Ookami**_ a chocolate chip cookie for putting this story on alert and a giant chibi Shirou-chan candy to _**DeafLizgon **_for putting this story on your favourites._

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_Body parts were all cut up and shoved into either clear or black garbage bags. Some faces were badly cut that you couldn't recognize them anymore. For a human, this would be pretty sick but for a shinigami, it's a nightmare. Their souls are not the regular ones. They were also cut up and they're all calling for her and slowly crawling to her._

Rukia stood there, shocked. As a shinigami, she has seen a lot of things but this … was disturbing. Gin stood there, his eyes showing fear. He looked at his nee-san who just stood there, frozen. He grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs then shut the door quickly. "Nee-san, are you okay?" Concern reflected on his bright green eyes.

She looked at him and said, "Yes, I'm fine." Her hate for him had dissipated only to be replaced with pity. She sighed and asked, "How come you haven't told anyone about this before?"

"I was scared he would kill me." She was surprised. The person who he once was is completely gone. She bit her lip and thought that she had to do something about … the mess. She sighed, once again and thought that she should buy Gin some breakfast.

She crouched down to his height and said, "What do you want for breakfast? Well, if you still want to eat." Gin's stomach growled, telling her it was really empty. She smiled, "I guess you still want to eat." She looked back at the door that leads to hell then back at Gin. "You can decide when we get there then." She took his hand and they both walked out the door.

_--- Captain's Meeting --- _

"Hmmm, that is a problem. What're we going to do? I don't want my Rukia-chan dying before she and Ichigo gets married." Isshin said loudly. Everyone looked at him then at the person in front of him who was shooting death glares.

"Ah … Byakuya-san, you can kill Isshin-san later, after we figure out what to do, okay?" Shunsui said, trying to calm the sixth division captain.

"That bastard probably forgot all of his memories and he probably changed already." Kenpachi said, "If he does something wrong, I suggest me killing him immediately."

Everyone was quiet, thinking about what Kenpachi said, then, "Well, that does sound reasonable. What do you think Yama-jii?" Ukitake asked and looked at the old man who didn't respond. He was drooling and snoring lightly. Everyone sweat-dropped, the first division captain fell asleep in a captain's meeting.

---

"So, what do you want to eat?" Due to Gin's shyness, he couldn't say what he wanted to Rukia ordered for him. She got him a cheeseburger, fries, juice and a chocolate sundae, coincidentally, those were what he wanted. Gin ate his food happily. Rukia couldn't help but smile. Her smile turned upside down when she remembered what he went through. For a four year old, he already knows so much.

"Gin, how old are you?"

"I'm four, almost five."

"I see,"

"How bout you, how old are you?"

"I'm …" She tried to remember how old Ichigo was. "21," she finished

"21? You look … younger."

She ruffled his hair and said, "You know too much for a four year old."

He pouted and said, "I'm almost five!"

She grinned, "Key word: almost." He frowned and stuck his tongue out at her. Her phone rang and she answered it, it was Ichigo. "Yes, what do you want?"

"I got three tickets to the amusement park from Keigo. I was wondering if you and the kid want to go."

"Sounds like fun, we'll be there in less than an hour."

"An hour, you want me to wait for you for one hour?!"

"No idiot, I said we'll be there in less than an hour. Gin's still eating."

"Gin …?"

"The kid I'm taking care of." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, okay, just hurry up 'kay? I'll be waiting for you guys in front of the park."

"Yeah, yeah." She hung up and beamed at Gin. "Hurry up and finish eating so that we can go to the amusement park."

"Amusement park …?"

"Yup, that was Ichigo inviting us to go to the amusement park."

He smiled, "Thank you nee-san!"

_--- Amusement Park---_

Rukia looked around for a person with orange hair then she found him. She waved, trying to catch his attention. He waved back and jogged to them. He saw the little boy hiding behind Rukia and stared. She smacked him in the head. "Ow, what did you do that for?!"

"You're scaring him!" She looked at Gin and said, "Gin, this is Ichigo." He looked surprised. "What's the matter?"

"I thought that your friend, this Ichigo, was a girl."

Rukia giggled, "Yes, Ichigo is a girly name isn't it?"

Gin looked at the frowning Ichigo. "Um … I like strawberries?"

He frowned even more. "Ichi means one and go means five."

"But Ichigo also means strawberry." Gin argued.

"You look oddly familiar." Ichigo said, "What's your whole name?"

"Ichimaru Gin," Ichigo frowned, remembering the name and the silver haired man clearly. He looked at Rukia who smiled, meaning it was okay. He picked the small boy up and put him on his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you Gin, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo." Ichigo gave the gatekeeper three tickets and they walked around the park first. Then they went on different rides. The last ride they went on was _Plunge_. It's the ride where the machine takes you up then drops you quickly. They didn't go on the one taller than the Shrine of Penitence since they are with Gin. They went on the shorter one. They went up and dropped quickly. Gin gave a little shriek on the first fall then happy squeals for the rest.

"I'm surprised you weren't scared of that Rukia." Ichigo teased Rukia after getting of the ride. Rukia punched him in the stomach which caused him to bend over and lost grip of his hold on Gin which made him fall forwards. Luckily, Rukia caught the boy.

"Ichigo, you should be more careful!"

"What do you mean I should be more careful?! You're the one who made him fall!"

"What? You were the one who bend over!"

"You were the one who punched me!" And the bickering started. Gin looked back and forth. After a while, he was dizzy.

"Mommy, look! The short girl and the orange headed guy had a son that has silver hair. Why can't I have brown hair?" a little girl asked

"That is weird …" the mother thought, "Well, let's go." The mother walked away with her child.

"…"

"Ichigo, what was that child talking about …?"

"… You better forget about it." Ichigo picked Gin up and put him on his shoulder again. Suddenly, the ground shook and both shinigami heard the howl of a hollow. Gin hugged Ichigo's head tightly, scared at the thing that just roared.

"Wh-what was th-that?" Gin asked

"It's … uh … probably a new ride." Ichigo said

"Then why was the ground shaking?"

"It's just a small earthquake, don't worry too much." Gin still looked confused.

"I just have to go to the washroom, I'll be right back." Rukia said then ran off.

Gin was confused. "But the washroom is that way." He pointed to the direction opposite where Rukia was going.

"Let's get some ice cream, okay?" Ichigo said, trying to take Gin's mind out of Rukia and her sense of direction. Rukia came back a few minutes later. "Hey," Ichigo greeted and Rukia nodded.

"Nee-san, you came back quickly. I thought that you'd be lost. The washroom's that way," Gin pointed to the east, "but you went there." He pointed north.

"Ah, I used a different one."

"Did you go check that new ride that screamed like a monster?" Gin asked

"No, I went to the washroom."

The little kid blinked then shrugged, "Okay,"

"I didn't know you liked chocolate ice cream, Ichimaru-san. You look like the kind of person who despises sweets." A woman giggled. The three looked at the woman walking in front of them then at the man she was with.

"Ah, Ichimaru-san!" Rukia bowed, showing respect

"Rukia, what're you guys doing here?"

"Ichigo and I were just taking Gin out."

"I see, is this Ichigo your boyfriend?" he asked

"No, we're just friends." Rukia smiled, thinking of her memories with the orange headed teen … man.

"Well, we should get going. I'll see both later then." He walked away, after looking at Rukia one more time.

"Rukia, I don't trust him." Ichigo said

"Why not?" she asked

"Did you see the way he looked at you? I don't want you going near him ever again."

"You're being over-protective again. I can take care of myself." She said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong. "Besides, who's going to take care of Gin?"

Ichigo sighed, "Fine, just be careful with him, okay?"

Rukia hugged Ichigo and said, "Yes, I will." She let go of him and turned to Gin. "Do you want to go ride the _Ferris wheel_?" Gin nodded happily, finishing his ice cream. She took his small hand, "Let's go then."

---

_---Omake---_

"Did you see the way he looked at you? I don't want you going near him ever again."

"You're being over-protective again. I can take care of myself." She said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong. "Besides, who's going to take care of Gin?"

Ichigo thought about it, "We'll kidnap him tonight and tell his dad we don't know anything."

"Ah, so, you tell the kid you're going to take, that you're kidnapping him? That's the best plan ever, Ichigo."

"So, Gin, here's what we'll do …" Ichigo was talking intently to the four year old explaining everything in detail; Rukia sweat-dropped.


End file.
